How could I convince my parents to let me be a vegetarian?!
Answers: The reason they don't want me to be 1 is because they don't think I'll eat enough.
I actually just sent you an e-mail about 30 minutes ago with a site and some info, be sure to look it over. I also just answered someone else's question. (One that is very similar to yours, check my profile and look at the questions I answered, it's the first question under your's. Peace and Veggie Power to you!
Oh, and check out these sites below for info.
its hardand harder to make the right choices, if ur serious about wanting to be one talk to a dieterion
Do some research. Go to the library and pick up some books, or do tons of googling. Come up with a meal plan for a week to prove that you know what you will eat. Also think about who will do any extra cooking your diet may require.
You may need to rely on a variety of convenience foods for at least part of your weekly meals. There are lots available (frozen entrees, rice and lentil mixes, hearty soups and chilis, etc). They are a bit pricey, but maybe your family will be supportive if you have a solid plan.
Be sure your meal plan has plenty of protein. That will probably be the first thing your parents look for. Beans, nuts, soy protein (tofu, veggie burgers). If you are fine with eggs and dairy, they are also a good source of protein.
Tell them you will still get enough meat. It just wont be beef. You will eat chicken and fish. Vegans eat a lot, we just dont eat a lot of bad stuff.
Wait til you move out and then you can do anything you want. Spend your time between now and then studying all the advantages and disadvantages of the vegetarian lifestyle. It can probably be okay but you must make sure you are getting usable vitamin B12, some fat because vitamins A and D are fat soluble.
It takes about five years for low B12 to show up because your body stores that much. But if you end up low in B12 you can have mental problems similar to Alzheimer's. In fact, some Alzheimer's have turned out to be B12 deficiency.
I think it can be okay but just make sure you know what you are doing. There are plenty of websites to study and books on the subject.
I knew a girl who started vegetarian when she was 14. At 19 she was using a cane 3 or 4 days a week. Something to do with gout. Just be sure you know what you are doing and all the symptoms that might arise if you end up missing certain certain nutrients that your body might have been getting from meat, dairy, eggs, etc
Ask them to give you a week to try it out and prove to them that you can stay healthy. Go to the grocery store with them the next time they go, and take them to the frozen section where all the fake meats are located. Look at the choices with them, and pick out some fake chicken patties and veggie burgers. There is a fake meat for just about every real meat, so in no way would you be altering the amount of food that you take in, but only the ingredients that you are putting in your body while stlil maintaining the proper amount of nutrience. Good luck!
For modern animal agriculture, the less the consumer knows about what’s happening before the meat hits the plate, the better. If true, is this an ethical situation? Should we be reluctant to let people know what really goes on, because we’re not really proud of it and concerned that it might turn them to vegetarianism? If the public knew more about the way in which agricultural and animal production infringes on animal welfare, the outcry would be louder.
In my opinion, if most urban meat eaters were to visit an industrial broiler house, to see how the birds are raised, and could see the birds being ‘harvested’ and then being ‘processed’ in a poultry processing plant, they would not be impressed and some, perhaps many of them would swear off eating chicken and perhaps all meat.
Humans—who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals—have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain. A sharp distinction between humans and ‘animals’ is essential if we are to bend them to our will, make them work for us, wear them, eat them— without any disquieting tinges of guilt or regret. It is unseemly of us, who often behave so unfeelingly toward other animals, to contend that only humans can suffer. The behavior of other animals renders such pretensions specious. They are just too much like us.
True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. “Humanity’s true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect humankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.
When nonvegetarians say that ‘human problems come first’ I cannot help wondering what exactly it is that they are doing for human beings that compels them to continue to support the wasteful, ruthless exploitation of farm animals.
Let your parents to visit the nearby factory farm and slaughterhouse, or at least watch this…MEET YOUT MEAT…
http://video.google.com/videoplay?doci...
Easy Vegan starting pack…
http://www.veganoutreach.org/starterpa...
Basically, they probably think its some fad. You just need to prove to them that its not. PROVE to them WHY youre doing it. Write a small paper for them, make sure you give them sources. online books whatever that show how much we eat. tell them that meat eaters are higher risk for cancer, diabetes, heart disease etc. tell them about animal suffering. (http://peta2.com) look for the meet your meat video. search on youtube "slaugherhouse videos"...tell them " i eat everything EXEPT meat, and there isnt that much meat in most meals. i have a lot of choices" its what i tell poeple when they ask me! Just ask them if writing a paper, will help convince them. ask if you can try it out for a month or so...and show them you will eat "enough" if not, just go do it and prove them wrong!!
im not about to tell you "make sure you get nutrients etc" because i hate it when people say that to me....but what i would do is write out weekly plans of each meal, it really helps me out. show them your weekly plans. that way you can visually see how much food you are going to eat or not eat.
offer to help make meals sometimes, maybe they just dont want that bother of making a special dish. most meals are pretty simple to make anyways.
also i would borrow or buy the book "students vegetarian cookbook" by carole raymond. within the first few chapters it explains how many resources are wasted to produce one pound of meat, compared to one pound of apples. its quite intresting :)
Ask them if you could have some alone time when they're not stressed out or distracted. Explain why going vegetarian is important to you, and make sure you stay calm and rational. It helps to have some printed information available -- then they'll see that you're serious and that you've done your research. Here are some sites:
Health benefits of vegetarianism:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk...
Vegetarian food groups:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk...
American Dietetic Association's position: "Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence."
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/a...
Vegetarian nutrition for teens:
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/teennutri...
Recipes:
http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-recipes...
Fake meat products:
http://www.vegcooking.com/guide-favs.a...
Veg sources of protein, iron, and calcium:
http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=08sou...
Hope this helps and good luck!
Ask them for a trial period and show them that you are serious by doing it right during that time (and after of course.)
You don't have to wait for them to "let you" be a vegetarian.
When I decided I wanted to give up meat I just told them at dinner, I'm not eating meat anymore.
They didn't like it.
But they'll live.
And so will many more animals.
For starters, show them this web site:
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/a...
They are probably right.
Eat more beef!
Doc
Tell them It's a fad and you'll probably move onto a new one shortly. If that doesn't work give up.